The final installment of the Hobbit trilogy is the best, featuring more spectacular action scenes as well as the series' most emotionally resonant moments.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (*** out of four; rated PG-13; opens Wednesday nationwide) could have been a half-hour shorter, perhaps by jettisoning an uneventful and odd scene between wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) and hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), as well as a confounding ghostly battle involving elf queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee).
But, the pacing of other portions of the film is right on point.
Though the two previous Hobbit movies have not measured up to the grandeur of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (to which these tales serve as prequels), this last chapter is almost on par with the Rings film.
Just as the final Rings film, The Return of the King, was the best of that threesome, the final Hobbit follows suit. Frustratingly, director Peter Jackson continues to indulge his love for multiple endings. Mostly, however, it's a richly satisfying finale to Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels.
The opening sequence in which evil dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) returns to terrorize the denizens of Lake-town is edge-of the-seat exciting. Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) emerges as a strong leader and consistently heroic figure.
While the battle for Lake-town rages, the adventures of Bilbo and the Dwarves of Erebor, led by king Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), are heating up.
After Bilbo woke up Smaug, who was holed up in the Lonely Mountain in the last movie, the dwarves reclaimed their ancestral home and its accompanying treasures. In this film, Thorin succumbs to dragon-sickness (otherwise known as maniacal greed) in his single-minded determination to search for the valuable Arkenstone gem.
When the survivors of Lake-town come to the Lonely Mountain to claim their rightful portion of the treasure, Thorin refuses to comply. He goes back on his word and essentially declares war on both the Lake-town residents and the elves who also have a stake in the treasure.
Dark lord Sauron's orc armies arrive, bent on taking the Lonely Mountain, and the battle begins in earnest with dwarves, elves and humans pitted against the gigantic monsters.
Battle scenes featuring Thorin fighting an orc general on the crumbling edge of a stony outcropping and skidding along thin ice are among the most thrilling.
When elf prince Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and fellow soldier and love interest Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) come onto the scene, the fighting becomes even more inventive.
The film's title makes it sound as though it's all warring all the time, but there are quieter, moving moments, including a star-crossed romance between Tauriel and brave elf Kili (Aidan Turner).
The actor who shines most consistently in the trilogy is Freeman, who has an unshakable grasp on his affable Bilbo Baggins character.
Overall, the film offers visual dazzle, epic contests, genial humor and moments of great sadness making for an altogether fitting conclusion to this saga of Middle-earth.